


Dance of Her Life

by Herald_of_Dreams



Series: Star Wars Tales [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-02
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:05:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herald_of_Dreams/pseuds/Herald_of_Dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written in 2004. Very old writing! Padme Amidala is a slave dancer to the Hutts on Nal Hutta. She is discovered by Darth Vader who isn't very happy about her being enslaved. This is from the beginning of my writing adventures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dance of Her Life

The women stood outside of a huge main audience chamber, petrified but curious as to who was there. One named Altani said to the others, "There are Imperials out there."

The others muttered or gazed fearfully out of the hall at the laughing Imperials, drunk on various spiced liquors.

One woman with dark brown hair didn’t react. She just continued to prepare for her dance by getting into the elaborate blue and gold costume. It was gold on the top and across the very top of the skirt with sapphires inlaid in ornate patterns. The cloth was a sheer white lashaa silk, with more sapphires on the hem.

All of the women there were slave dancers, handpicked by their Hutt crime lord masters to represent them and their world in a slave dancing competition on Nal Hutta in the Hutt system.

Many had danced here before and Altani had danced here three times. Jabba's dancer was new to them. She was a captured former queen of a Mid Rim planet and used to dancing but not the kind the Hutts called "seductive dance."

Altani could see that the woman was nervous and walked over to her, smiling. How a young woman like this had become a slave, she had no idea.

"How did you become Jabba's slave?''

The woman paused, then said, "To save my daughter. Her father was tracing her through me, so I gave her up and fled here."

"Why?"

"To save her. But a slaver caught me, trained me and then I was sold to the Emperor, who gave me to Jabba as a gift after he realized that my husband would recognize me."

"Your husband is Imperial?"

"Yes."

"What is his name?"

She paused, tears in her eyes and said "Lord Vader."

"Lord Vader?" Altani whispered in shock. "He is here. I saw him earlier."

"You did?" asked the woman breathlessly.

"Yes. I know him because I was on his TIE fighter squadron before I became a slave."

"Would you ask him to meet me tonight? I don't care where."

"Of course. What is your name?"

"Tell him it is Padmé Amidala of Naboo if he asks."

Not wasting a second of the valuable time that she had before the dances began, Altani hurried out after tossing a cloak over the slave gown.

She walked along the upper levels and then skidded to a stop when she saw Admiral Pellaeon.

"Admiral, I am Altani Madagar. Please tell Lord Vader that I need to speak with him."

Pellaeon motioned for Altani to follow him. The walked for five minutes before coming upon Lord Vader, who had his back turned to them.

"Lord Vader. I am Altani Madagar, a former pilot on one of your TIE fighter squadrons."

"I know who you are." The menacing bass rumble answered. He turned around and said, "You were the one who misfired your torpedoes into one of my Star Destroyer's engines."

She winced at the sharpness of his memory and tongue but said, "I am not here to speak to you about my military career. In fact, I am a slave now."

"I am here for another woman, whom you should know. Emperor Palpatine formerly owned her but he gave her to Jabba, fearing her husband's anger if he ever found out. She requests for you to meet her."

"Tell her no."

"She thought you might say this and told me to tell you her name if you ask for it."

"What is her name?"

"Padmé Amidala of Naboo."

Vader swung around, staring at her, the shock in his form total, as was the sudden, sharp anger.

"Do you know how long it has been since I have heard my wife's name?" He hissed.

"No." She answered.

"Seven years. Seven long years I have lived without her."

Breathing hard, Vader glared at her and said, "I will meet her at this balcony at 0800 hours, got it?"

"Yes. She will be happy to see you. Any woman who cries at the thought of how long it has been since she has seen you would be," snapped Altani.

She spun around on her heel and left, getting back just in time for the opening dance. She walked over to Padmé and said, "He will meet you at the southwest balcony at 0800 hours."

 

"Thank you." Padmé whispered from under the blue-gray robe.

They walked out into the main chamber and the music struck up a beat that only two of them would recognize. The soft, high notes were pleasing to the ear, with a strong, steady rhythm.

Padmé listened in shock and said to Altani, "This is an old Naboo coronation dance."

Jamillia was the other captured Naboo queen and she took this song, her slim form sliding across the floor, swaying lightly to the beat, her feet moving in an intricate pattern.  
              *

There were few that were familiar with this song and only one Imperial here knew it.

Vader's sharp eyes slid along the different women, discarding each. He paused on one, eyes narrowing behind the mask.

The music switched and the woman Vader had been watching walked onto the floor. Even under the cloak Vader could tell that this woman could hold onto her dignity even as a slave.

She removed the cloak as she walked and it fluttered to the ground.

With her dark brown hair and orb-like eyes, Padmé Amidala looked as though she was sixteen instead of 28 years old. Her lips were pressed together and that conveyed her disgust better than the loathing look she shot at Jabba.

The look in her eyes expressed the resignation and despair that was in her heart and Vader wanted nothing more than to walk up to the slimy, old, slave-owning Hutt and kill him.

Worse to Vader than the anger was the longing, like a persistent ache that just got worse the closer he got to her. His hands trembled but he clenched them at his sides and stilled the intense feeling.

He strode away after her dance finished; satisfied that Altani had not lied to him.

*

Nal Hutta means "Glorious Jewel" in Huttese _but_ Padmé thought darkly, _there was nothing glorious about it_.

She stood on a balcony gazing out toward the rest of the galaxy and her child, tiny Leia where she rested on a distant world.

Padmé sighed under the cloak, her shoulders dropping in sadness at the thought of her daughter.

She winced as a rough, unpleasant laugh came from the room behind her.

 _Probably some drunk Imperial officer_ , she thought.

Her eyes widened as her ears registered a smooth, metallic hissing behind her.

She spun around, breathing hard and stopped.

Half a foot behind her stood her dear Ani, his two-meter black form towering above her.

Neither saying a word nor hesitating, Vader took two steps forward and gently grasped her wrist in his hand.

Padmé found that she was having hard time breathing, so great was her shock at his sudden appearance.

Vader could say likewise but his surprise was for a different reason.

 _Stars, why did she have to be so beautiful?_ Vader wondered.

Padmé was trying to control her shaking but that was getting harder and harder for her to do.

A few seconds passed and neither spoke.

Padmé managed to say, "It's kind of hard to follow your movement, since you move so quietly."

Vader laughed more gently than he had in many years.

"You never did like long silence, did you?" He said to her, amused.

"No. Why did you think I stayed in the Senate so long?" Padmé said dryly.

Vader snorted and then gazed at her, stunned, as usual, by her beauty.

The sun had almost set and the universe was bathed in the lavender and gold glow of the sun. Amidala looked part of this, with her dark hair coiled neatly against her head and her slim form draped in a silk robe over a form-fitting midnight blue gown that glittered in the single lamp's light.

"Amidala, if I could free you somehow, would you join me?"

"Yes." she said in a determined tone. "Then we could make Palpatine pay for trusting my good nature and my sensitivity."

"Yes, we could." he murmured. Vader was already thinking of a way to free her from this slavery and he got an idea. He grinned, told the plan and she agreed. Her only worry was for his safety but he assured her that he'd be fine.

Vader watched her for a second behind the opaque lenses and then walked away, touching her shoulder for a second before he left, reluctant to leave her.

Padmé watched him go and then promised that she would tell him about his daughter Leia after this. She knew that he would be angry with Obi-Wan for hiding her from him but she also knew that his anger would fade.

 *

Vader strode down one long hall, hoping that the stubborn Hutts would enjoy his proposal. The trick would be convincing them to allow their best dancers to compete in such a risky dance.

He could smell the Hutt crime lords before he saw them, so full of exotic spices that it leaked out their pores.

He shuddered, for he had never like the smell of the spice glitterstim, which was the variety that they were using here.

He knew that the Hutts were conceited and thus chose to use their egos to his advantage.

In fluent Huttese, he said to them, "Good evening, Exalted Ones. Nal Hutta is indeed as glorious as its namesake of Varl. The Imperial Starfleet is honored by being here."

For the Hutts, having an Imperial Starfleet overleader say this to them in their own language was high praise indeed. The fact that he knew of their homeworld increased their respect in him.

"Many greetings, Lord Vader. It is a pleasure for us and an honor to have you and the Starfleet here at our humble world." purred Zorba, Jabba's father. He was a huge old Hutt with braided white hair and bright yellow eyes.

Vader felt sickened by the smell, which was overpowering when he was this close. He continued, "The Imperial Starfleet would enjoy a competition of your best dancers, for say, two million credits plus whatever my men gamble?"

Two million credits were quite a bit for the Hutts but nothing to Vader. He earned four million in a month. Zorba was suspicious and he said to Vader, "Can we choose the dancers from the best ourselves?"

"Of course." said Vader. He was glad that Zorba had said this, because he knew that Jabba would instantly get his very best for this and Padmé was one of those.

"Wonderful. How about tomorrow evening for this dance final?"

"I will see you then." Vader glided out of the room and tried to contact Ami so that he was sure that she would be ready.

"It worked. Do you and Altani both have a blaster?"

"Of course. Even slaves have some method of defense."

"Good." he paused, then she added, "I am going to ask Altani to come with us as a handmaiden and bodyguard. I also know of a safe area that we can flee to from the Hutts, so you can tell the fleet to withdraw if the Hutts start firing on them."

"I know that. I have a cruiser ready for this, on docking bay twelve. Code to enter is 1937AS."

He told her goodbye then headed for his own quarters to tell the fleet to leave if the Hutts fired on them. Admiral Piett questioned it but Vader ordered him to not ask questions about it. The admiral had taken the hint and signed off.

*

The next morning Amidala sat listening to the excited banter of the other slaves. She felt guilty about not being able to free them all but she and Ani had decided that it was too risky and had stuck to their original plan.

Altani moved toward her and Padmé remembered with a smile the woman's eager agreement to serving her as a handmaiden and confidant.

The older woman's gown was a gorgeous emerald and gold, with diamonds in the skirt and chest piece. It set off her fiery red-gold hair and crystal green eyes. It also exposed her stomach and back.

Amidala was suddenly jerked onto her feet as a Gamorrean guard attached a leash to the slave collar made of solid gold around her neck and yanked it hard.

She started to fight it but calmed and followed him when she remembered that she needed to be placed into her slave dress. _The last one I'll wear,_ she thought as the two women snapped the tight top and bottom into place.

She turned around and gasped as she looked into the mirror, stunned with her appearance.

*

Altani watched, worried, as her lady Padmé was jerked down a hall to be outfitted for this dance. She was glad to serve her and had joined after she had gotten her own approval from Lord Vader. He had been curt but had given his consent for her to join Amidala's private staff.

She knew from careful questions that the lady had a temper and was as fiery in spirit as anyone, with a regal nature and powerful friends. But she also knew that she was sensitive and delicate in nature as well as build.

The lady sounded to Altani like the perfect ruler of the Empire instead of the crazy Palpatine, who had scarred Padmé and kept her as a slave at his side except for when Lord Vader had been there.

Altani watched the others with a calculating gaze, guessing for fun how many of them had been Rebel spies or convicts. She gazed around and narrowed her eyes at the sight of a woman with a haughty air of self-confidence and contempt for the others.

 _An Imperial assassin,_ she realized. Here to destroy the lady, which was easy to guess. _But why?_ No matter, the lady was under her protection and she needed to report this to Lord Vader.

She turned on her comlink and heard Lord Vader snap, "Yes, Altani?"

"There is an Imperial assassin here to kill Padmé, sir."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. She is wearing a black and silver slave gown that exposes the Assassin symbol."

"Good." Vader said. "I will take care of the assassin. You keep an eye on Padmé. Remember," he added, "you are her professional bodyguard now."

He heard Altani turn the comlink on standby and headed down a hall to take care of the Imperial assassin.

 *

Shira Dornav laughed at something one of the slaves said and turned to see one, in an emerald and gold gown staring at her.

She tossed her head in contempt and turned away. A scout had given this mission to her and she would be away from here soon, after she got rid of her target.

Shira was a haughty woman from the Seswenna sector, like her former husband, Grand Moff Tarkin.

Her face hardened as she remembered the fake sorrow in Lord Vader's voice after the divorce. He was a class above the rest in arrogance and she was pleased at being able to get rid of someone that he loved for personal as well as non-personal reasons. The money had been the other.

After Tarkin had left her for his mistress Admiral Daala, the money he had from the military had been left to his oldest son, who was named the heir of his fortune, as was custom on many worlds.

Shira had left the elegant estate to look for a career that she could raise her own fortune in and had found the assassin work as her calling. This bounty alone would well pay for her retirement and the bills that had been left by her husband.

Shira glanced around herself, noting the fact that all of the people that had rich bounties on them seemed to live or frequent Nal Hutta.

She walked to a platform that would give her a clear view of her target. She picked up the Xerra sniper rifle and set its sights on the door that the slaves would come out of.

Absorbed in her work, she didn't notice Lord Vader following her and coming onto the platform behind her.

"Shira Dornav-Tarkin. What a surprise to find you as an Imperial assassin. And I thought you could sink no lower than you already had."

Shira swirled around, blaster coming instantly into her grip, only to be ripped out her hands sharply by Vader's force pull.

"You arrogant bastard." Shira snarled at Vader, furious with herself for not hearing him sneak up on her.

He snorted at her comment and said, "You sound upset. But then, you always were." He paused and then imitated her whining tone, "Thank you, Lord Vader. I appreciate your concern."

"SHUT UP!" Shira screeched. Her high nasal soprano voice sounded like what Vader had just imitated. He stopped, laughing at her.

"You knew that he was going to leave! And you just stayed out of it!" She snapped.

He strode over and snapped the sniper rifle in two and she exclaimed, "Hey that was expensive!"

"You won't need it where you are going."

Anticipating stormtroopers, she glanced at the door and then turned back to Vader and felt her eyes widen as he came closer to her and grabbed her by the neck.

"Sorry to disappoint you but nobody lives after trying to kill my wife." Vader said into the silence.

She started to screech something but he didn't pay attention to her and instead tightened his grip about her throat. He felt her weak struggle and brought his fingers together around her neck. He remembered later the sound of the snap of her neck, like the wet snap of a new branch but didn't register it at the time.

He turned around and found a small gun, adjusted the setting and shot it, watching as the woman disappeared, vaporized by the intense heat.

He walked out of the room, heading for the dance floor, where he could hear the musicians setting up their equipment. He contacted Altani and told her that the assassin was no longer a problem and then heard the opening music of the competition.

 *

Altani answered her comlink and heard Vader tell her that the assassin was "taken care of" and realized that the woman had lost her life.

Altani had learned about Vader's reputation early in her career and had avoided making mistakes until the end, when she had fired her torpedoes into a Star Destroyer, when her actual target had moved out of the way at the last minute.

She watched for the lady and examined the cloak that they had left for Padmé. It was brilliant in color, a perfect blend of orange, gold and red sequins that looked like fire.

The lady stepped out of the dressing room and every one of the slave girls gazed in disbelief or pure envy at the gown, which Padmé wore with dignity and grace.

Altani stared and Padmé smiled at the woman, understanding her stunned expression. She slipped the cloak over the several million credit dress and followed a Gamorrean guard out to her place at Jabba's belly, where she would remain until it was time for her dance.

Jabba gave her one of his revolting Hutt smiles as he slipped an ornate gold collar onto her neck. It was carved in the shape of a vine with leaves and there was a solid chain leash attached to the collar.

She sat in the indicated spot and Jabba smiled at her, drunk on his drinks and the glitterstim spice, which had already altered his perceptions and reaction time. Krimmer spice, a drug similar to alcohol with a level of intoxication seven times the legal limits, would do that.

Padmé turned her eyes away from the Hutt toward the crowd of people, looking for Ani, whom she knew, was around there somewhere. She saw him and caught his gaze by just staring at him until he looked at her.

He nodded and she smiled, turning to the women who were walking out of the side chamber to the announcements of the two-headed alien, who was announcing it in both Huttese and Basic.

*

Altani walked three spaces from the front and Amidala found herself envying the younger woman's height. She was tall and curved but as thin as a stick.

Padmé listened to the opening music and admired the other dancer's delicate swirls and twists. There was one Twi'lek woman, blue skinned with the twin head-tails, who was a good dancer and Padmé recognized her collar that claimed that she was Zorba's top dancer.

Altani had picked a difficult dance and Padmé cheered her on, glad that she was challenging her skills for the last time.

After Altani finished, the music picked up a different beat and Padmé recognized her song and headed onto the dance floor. This dance she was going to dance for one person. She looked into Ani's eyes and smiled at him before starting to dance.

*

Vader watched Amidala walk onto the floor and caught her gaze as she smiled at him, her smile lighting up the entire place.

She walked to the end of the chain and a Gamorrean released her. She removed the cloak and gave it to the creature and heard the soft gasps of many people as the rare Corellian crystals glittered in their tones of yellow orange and crimson, making her look like she was a streak of fire. They had also placed a glitter powder on her eyelids. There were colored gold streaks in her hair and they had placed a ruby glaze onto her lips.

She danced and once she was into the beat of it, Vader noticed her remove a small Naboo pistol from the inside of the skirt. She continued to dance and Vader walked over to the light box, withdrawing the handle of his saber from his belt. He looked over at Altani and nodded and she caught Padmè's attention and removed her own blaster. Amidala nodded and fired the pistol in the middle of a spin.

It hit a target and absolute chaos started. Everybody screamed and started to bolt. The Hutts were panicking, gathering their jewels and dancers and starting to retreat.

Vader ignited his ruby blade with a hiss and stabbed the blade into the box in front of him.

The lights flickered and then blacked out and the announcers, who had still been shouting into their microphones, gave it up and fled through the door in the back of their room.

Vader moved over to Altani and Padmé, as he was able to see in the dark thanks to the lenses and led them out of the dance room toward the cruiser.

The fleet was retreating, as the Hutts were firing on them and there was general chaos. Padmé followed Vader; glad that he knew where they were going. He led them to a platform and entered the code to let them onto the docking bay.

He snapped the door open, as it was not moving fast enough for him and opened the ramp of the cruiser, starting it and shooting it into the sky in a record speed.

Altani moved into the back, to rest she claimed but Vader knew that it was just to give them some time alone.

Amidala walked over and sat next to him and they exchanged a wordless look and he sent them into hyperspace.

As he sat next to her, Vader felt that he could take on whatever the future had in store for him and they both looked toward the rest of the galaxy, wondering what it might hold. 


End file.
